Strawberry Skirt

I finished this one before we left for Great Wolf Lodge.  It went together pretty fast.  I used french seams on all the layers.  The rick-rack on the bottom seriously stiffened up the skirt.  I was going for something a little more floaty, but the rick-rack was like adding a crinoline.  Sean and Anna liked it though, so it stayed.  I modified the Gypsy Skirt pattern from Making Children’s Clothes by: Emma Hardy.  I think next time I will add more width to the bottom tier to give it a little more fullness.  Lesson learned: always section off the skirt for gathering at 1/2, 1/4, 1/8 and 1/16.

And I would just like to say that I have been much more impressed with the quality and ideas found in foreign books than American books.  Most of the contemporary American sewing books I have read are all about doing things fast and easy – and it shows.  I would not be caught dead in most of those patterns.  They remind me of those funky costume patterns you could find in books about the dark ages at the library (like the make-your-own-wizard-tunic kind of thing – generally shapeless and uncomfortable).

I think the trims really took it from looking homemade to looking handmade.

I did not involve Annaliese at all in the design process on this one (it was taking a serious toll on my nerves).  Sean said to just tell her it was a secret if she asked any questions about what I was doing.  When she thought it was for her she complained about the stripes, but the secret thing did the trick and she left me to work in peace (she was still by my side, but no longer bossing me).  In the end she LOVED it.  She has worn it like crazy over the past week.  That is so incredibly gratifying – especially when she did not like my fabric choices in the beginning.

(Her shirts are starting to get a little short.  Grrr.  More ruffles, perhaps?  Hmmm.)